Nature of Love

Sarah Orne Jewett’s short story, The White Heron, is about the journey of a nine-year-old girl named Sylvia who transitions from a “crowded manufacturing town” (115) to her grandmother’s home in coastal New England. The exposure to the new environment has an overwhelmingly positive impact on Sylvia’s life as she quickly falls in love with nature and also the animals that inhabit the area. As the story progresses, the main character is forced to choose between saving a white heron’s life or impressing an ornithologist who plans on killing the white heron. The central theme of the story revolves around Sylvia’s decision of keeping the location of the white heron disclosed and ultimately picking life and nature over money and the possibility of love.

Sylvia and her grandmother live in a place full of peace and greenery. The mood of the story quickly changes when a stranger approaches Sylvia in the woods. During the initial encounter between Sylvia and the ornithologist, Sylvia immediately views the stranger as a threat to the woods. The author mentions, “The enemy had discovered her” (115).  The physical appearance of the hunter also fortifies this accusation due to the fact that he is wielding a gun. The hunter seems to be very polite and determined at finding the location of the white heron. He even offers Sylvia $10 to reveal the location because the hunter knows about their financial situation. This offer of wealth is the main reason Sylvia climbed the pine tree at night to find out the location of the bird. This is significant because her grandmother is not that rich and so rejecting this offers implies her love for nature. On the contrary, if Sylvia did accept the money and showed him the location of the nest, then maybe they would have developed a romantic relationship.

In order to gain the knowledge of the white heron’s location, Sylvia climbs an enormous pine tree. At this point in the story, Sylvia truly understands the beauty of nature as she looks out at the vast landscape and the ocean. Even though Sylvia did have some feelings for the hunter, she still could not let him kill the birds that she dearly admired. Her love for nature was easily greater than her love for the hunter. It can be argued that Sylvia paid a huge price by not telling the hunter because she regrets his presence. The author leaves us with a question.  “Were the birds better friends than their hunter might have been—who can tell?” (120) To Sylvia, the answer to this question is yes because she resisted the temptation of money and in return gained knowledgeable value of the white heron’s location.